Women's Issues, Peace, Creativity & Spirituality

Israel

It is the last day of the Jewish calendar. Tomorrow begins Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This article is an important one for Jews and non-Jews around the world to read.

Namaste

Barbara

“Extreme polarization around issues facing Israel is one of the most difficult challenges our Jewish communities in North America face. On the one hand, there is a great desire among Jews to feel a sense of peoplehood or family resemblance, a set of principles, values and identifiers which connect us to one another. Until a number of years ago, one could say that participating in the revitalization of the Jewish people in the State of Israel was one of those core values. Despite deep differences in theology, culture and ritual practice, most of the Jewish world cried together when Israel hurt and rejoiced together when Israel prevailed.

On the other hand, the narrative of Israel around which North American Jews rallied had been a somewhat idealized one: one which promised that Jewish sovereignty would look different from the nations of the world. We were captivated by the notion that we might fulfill the Herzlian dream of Israel as a model nation-state to the world, emanating light, peace and unity of all peoples. Planting a tree in Israel was like planting a little bit of our souls in its soil. And there was no purer, sweeter place to breathe the air of being Jewish.

If this was the content of why Israel became a powerful “religious” nation in the 20th century, an emerging feature of 21st century Jewry is a growing fragmentation of the narrative. For some North American Jews, there is a growing discomfort with the direction Israel is heading as it confronts its geopolitical and internal realities. For them, today’s Israel isn’t fulfilling her mission of being a state that reflects their most previous values, responding to its challenges instead in ways that mystify their Jewish consciences.
Others remain stalwart in seeing Israel’s growth and development as a nation over the decades as nothing short of a political, religious, technological and economic miracle despite overwhelming challenges to its survival. Not only that, in a world with anti-Semitism on the rise, supporting Israel as a safe haven for the world’s Jews feels essential. For their friends or family members to speak of Israel’s failings mystifies their Jewish conscience. They might expect those views from people outside of the Jewish community or from anti-Semites, but it is nothing short of betrayal coming from one of “us.” There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground on this point: one is either loyal to Israel, or a self-hating Jew.

As difficult as it is for those of us who feel deeply bound to the Jewish State and those who feel disillusioned though ultimately loyal, it is critical for us as a community to be open to the possibility that those who express “anti-Israel” sentiments might be expressing deeply Jewish intuitions. We can choose not to fragment ourselves into camps and believe we are resilient enough as a community to hear what our fellow Jews feel they need to contribute to the conversation. If there is a truth with which we need to grapple together, we will all be stronger for it. Our dialog around Israel must be for us machlket l’shaym shamayim, one serving the highest of purposes, not one that tears us apart. At the end of the day, what it at stake for us all as Jews is how true we each can be in reflecting the face of Torah when we speak and act on our convictions. It’s not only remaining in relationship with Jews of all kinds but in the pureness of our intentions in how we engage in difficult conversations that we may discover again how bound we are to one another and find a way forward.”

A tree is awash in autumn color as the moon rises over the White House on election night, November 08.
REUTERS

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I am a retired widow with 4 kids and 9 grands. I worked as a nurse, and in Domestic Violence, and many non-profits, I was a donor health counselor for the American Red Cross and am a certified HIV counselor. I worked as a counselor and I have been a make-up artist and selling specialists for several American designers. I love life. I am very spiritual. I grew up in 50's and 60's and truly am the idealistic rebel which is the name of my blog. I love music, books, reading, Kindle, beauty. I am a photographer and an artist. I believe in making the world better one day at a time. I am now living in Asheville, NC.